Birthday Book Haul!

February is the absolute worst month to have a birthday in, particularly when you live somewhere that experiences harsh winters. This month I’ve had 4 midterm exams, 2 papers due, and 1 quiz… along with actually leaving my house and going to school in -40 degree weather. This also means I’ve always hated having my birthday in February. Anyways, enough complaining… I turned 21 on February 23rd! I’ve always wished my birthday was in the summer so I could throw some extravagant outdoor barbecue party, but I guess I just have to keep dreaming… Unless of course I move somewhere that’s warm in February.

Turning 21 in Canada isn’t anything special. I’ve already had my “sweet 16”, I became an “adult” when I turned 18, and I could start buying alcohol and going out to bars at 19… so yeah, 21, not really that great. So really all that’s important to me is seeing the people I care about and having fun! This year my birthday fell on a Monday so that also made things awkward to celebrate.

After winning the room escape!

So, the Friday before my birthday I went to the movies to see the DUFF with a few friends! Boy am I glad I did… that movie was freaking hilarious. Then on Sunday we went to something called a “room escape” where you’re essentially locked in a room for 45 minutes and you have to solve puzzles and find clues that will lead you to the key to escape. Both of my sisters and their boyfriends, my brother, and two of my bestfriends came to play and it was seriously the funniest thing ever. Somehow we all came out alive with 5 minutes to spare. Then we grabbed Starbucks and went back to my house where my sister and my mom made homemade spaghetti and meatballs for dinner! Then cake, presents, and the Academy Awards! On Monday, my actual birthday, I went out for sushi with my bestfriend and her boyfriend and slept over at her house downtown. I had school at 8am the next morning, but I go to school in downtown Toronto where she lives so it was a lot more convenient than my normal subway commute. And that was that!! All in all it was a pretty wicked birthday, but now what you’ve all been waiting for… the book/other fun stuff haul!

I don’t order from BookOutlet a lot because most of the time I end up putting a bunch of books in my cart that I don’t even think I would end up getting around to I just do it because they are good priced… BUT. When I saw Attachments and Landline AND Since You’ve Been Gone on the website I just had to make an order. Then of course my mom paid for them and I had to pretend it was a surprise… haha. I also ordered Opposition from BookOutlet as well because I read the first two books on iBooks and intended on getting the rest at some point. The cover is heinous, but whatcha gonna do.

Then one of my sisters let her boyfriend pick out all my gifts from them… and so naturally one thing he picked was The Awkward Human Survival Guide. It actually looks hilarious, but the funnier thing was my bestfriend also got me the same book. So hopefully I can return one and pick up something else! My bestfriend also got me that little “Why You’re My Bestie” book and it’s got a bunch of fill in the blanks and stuff inside and she filled it all out for me.

My brother got me the Sansa Stark and Robb Stark Vinyl Pop Figures to add to my Stark family collection and the Olaf plush toy that my dog is intent on killing.. My other friend got me the Dancing Baby Groot, which is so friggin cute! Anddd my mom got me a Pandora Charm Bracelet with a 21 charm!

That’s it for all my bookish/nerdy birthday goodies! I had such a lovely birthday despite the cold and the abundance of school work. I’ll be back tomorrow with my February Wrap-Up because I’m going to try to squeeze in as much reading as I can today!

xx

Jacqueline

SEPTEMBER WRAP UP

I know it isn’t the end of the month just yet, but I don’t see myself finishing the book I am currently reading in the next two days so I figured I could post a summary now. Although I haven’t read very many books this books, I have read some really good books this month. Hey, like my professors always say, quality over quantity! Am I right 😉 So without further ado… here are my September reads!

First – To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before by Jenny Han

This book was absolutely adorable. I gave it a 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads and honestly, it was just the book to transition my way from summer to back to school. I loved the sisters, I loved the father, I loved Peter… It made me laugh out loud and it also made me cry. Like. Really cry. I think I had to put the book down to accommodate my tears, and that rarely happens. Definitely started off my month right.

Second – Fangirl by Rainbow Rowell

All I kept thinking the entire time I was reading this book was “why in the heck did I not read this sooner”. This could quite possibly be the best book I have read all year. Needless to say, 5 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. This is another one that made me cry. Honestly, it looks like I just had a super emotional month or something. But no, this book is definitely cry worthy. It just gave me so many freaking feelings!! I should probably do a review on this just so I can talk about how much I loved it.

Three – We Were Liars by E. Lockhart

Picked this one up because of the hype on Booktube and all over the internet for that matter. I’m glad I did, but I’m still not sure how I feel about it. I gave it 4 out of 5 on Goodreads mostly because you have to be a really fantastic writer to mind f*ck people that badly. When I got to the end where you find out what really happened I literally felt like I was going to be sick. Everyone said to go into it not knowing anything, but I feel like I should have been warned because I really was not ready for a book like this.

Four – Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (Volume #1) by Naoko Takeuchi

I’ve been wanting to get into more graphic novels and manga lately so I picked up the first volume in the original Sailor Moon series that has been renewed and is suppose to be better translated. It was awesome! 4 out of 5 on Goodreads. It was so much fun, and really renewed my love of Sailor Moon. 

Five – The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom

Again, 4 out of 5 on Goodreads. This book was definitely a lot different than books I usually read, but it was a great read. It had a really interesting and important message and I will hold onto it for a long time. It’s one of those books that makes you stop and reevaluate your life and what you hold as important. 

Six & Seven – Obsidian and Onyx by Jennifer L. Armentrout

You can find my review on Obsidian here, I gave it 4 out of 5 stars on Goodreads. I thought this book was an awesome start to the series. I haven’t read anything else by Jennifer L. Armentrout and this definitely made me want to. Onyx is the second book in the series and I have to pick it up right after I finished the first. It deserved a 5 out of 5 on Goodreads. There was more action, more romance, just more everything! It was an awesome sequel. 

That’s it for the books I finished in the month of September! I guess 7 isn’t too bad of a number considering I also have to keep up on readings and assignments at school! I am currently about 150 pages into The Book Thief by Markus Zusak and about 100 or so pages into Pretty Guardian Sailor Moon (volume 2) by Naoko Takeuchi. As soon as I finish up these books I’ll be diving right into my Fall TBR which can be found here.

Bye for now!

xx

Jacqueline

TOP TEN TUESDAY: FALL TBR PILE

Top Ten Tuesday is a weekly feature hosted by The Broke and The Bookish.

TOP TEN BOOKS ON MY FALL TO-BE-READ LIST

ONE & TWO.

Miss Peregrine’s Home for Peculiar Children & Hollow City by Ransom Riggs.
If these books don’t scream Halloween I really don’t know what does. I have a feeling they are going to be delightfully creepy, and perfect for an October kinda read. I just hope they don’t give me nightmares…

THREE.

Smoke (Burned #2) by Ellen Hopkins.
I read Burned years and years ago and honestly I don’t even remember what happens… I picked this up at the closing sale of the World’s Biggest Bookstore in downtown Toronto and haven’t yet found time to read it. The colours of the smoke/fire are pretty spot on fall colours, so I added it to my fall TBR.

FOUR.

Shadow and Bone (The Grisha #1) by Leigh Bardugo.
This has been sitting on my shelf for a while and I have heard nothing but good things about the series, so why not. It also includes the words shadow and bone which reminds me of halloween aka the fall.

FIVE.

5th Horseman (Women’s Murder Club #5) by James Patterson.
I pick these books up every few months and read one, then I’m like “omg so good I need to read more” and then life happens and my TBR pile grows and I forget… But again, thriller/murder mystery = halloween. Do you see a trend yet?

SIX.

Daughter of Smoke & Bone (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #1) by Laini Taylor.
Smoke. Bone. Masks. Something about devils, monsters, and mystery. Need I say more?

SEVEN.

Cinder (The Lunar Chronicles #1) by Marissa Meyer.
Cyborgs and fairy-tale retellings. This is all I know.

SEVEN, EIGHT, & NINE.

In the unlikely event that I power through these books for fall the next three are sequels.

6th Target (Women’s Murder Club #6) by James Patterson.

Days of Blood & Starlight (Daughter of Smoke & Bone #2) by Laini Taylor.

Scarlet (The Lunar Chronicles #2) by Marissa Meyer.

And that’s all for my fall TBR! Stay tuned for more Top Ten Tuesdays in the future!

xx

Jacqueline

Obsidian (Lux #1) Book Review

Obsidian by Jennifer L. Armentrout (Lux #1)
Publisher: Entangled Teen
Published: May 8th, 2012 (335 pgs)
Genre: Young Adult Paranormal
Source: Bought – eBook
Rating: 4 Stars!

STARTING OVER SUCKS

When we moved to West Virginia right before my senior year, I’d pretty much resigned myself to thick accents, dodgy internet access, and a whole lot of boring…. until I spotted my hot neighbor, with his looming height and eerie green eyes. Things were looking up.

AND THEN HE OPENED HIS MOUTH

Daemon is infuriating. Arrogant. Stab-worthy. We do not get along. At all. But when a stranger attacks me and Daemon literally freezes time with a wave of his hand, well, something…unexpected happens.

THE HOT ALIEN LIVING NEXT DOOR MARKS ME

You heard me. Alien. Turns out Daemon and his sister have a galaxy of enemies wanting to steal their abilities, and Daemon’s touch has me lit up like the Vegas Strip. The only way I’m getting out of this alive is by sticking close to Daemon until my alien mojo fades.

IF I DON’T KILL HIM FIRST, THAT IS.

My Thoughts:

I honestly had no intention of reading this book until I saw it was free on the iBooks app. That was in the beginning of July, and until last week I had totally forgotten about it. I was sitting at school on one of my breaks between lectures when I finished The Time Keeper by Mitch Albom and had nothing to do for another hour before class. Then I remembered the iBooks app and this beauty was just begging to be read. Let me just tell you that I don’t even remember my hour long commute home… that’s how into this book I was.

First of all, Daemon Black. I have never before wanted to kiss someone and punch them in the face simultaneously. His character is such an a-hole, but so hilarious. I seriously cannot get enough of him. There were times where I was definitely like “ugh, what a jerk”, but when you find out more about their history and what happened with his brother Dawson, you really have to give the guy a break. If I was in his situation I would do anything to keep my only remaining sibling alive as well, even if that means being a jerk to the new girl next door.

Now with that 6-foot-something alien hunk out of the way, let’s move on to our main character. Right off the bat I really liked Katy. I felt like I could really resonate with her character at the beginning – not just because she’s a blogger and a book nerd – but because she’s thrown into this crappy small town and she hardly complains. She will do anything to make her mom happy after the loss of her father. That’s another reason I really liked this book, it focuses a lot on familial relationships as well as romantic ones. I also loved that she didn’t automatically hit it off with Daemon, that in fact, she became really good friends with Dee first (who is awesome!) despite Daemon threatening her.

Besides really enjoying all of the characters, the plot was awesome too. I have never read a book about aliens before so at first I was pretty iffy about the idea. Their history is really awesome and Jennifer L. Armentrout does a spectacular job coming up with a world where extraterrestrial life forms exist among humans. Not only are the Luxon (what Daemon and Dee are) super badass and powerful, but there are also the Arum who are creepy, shadow-type aliens who have no cool powers (and want to steal the Luxon’s). The fight scenes are fast-paced and emotional and the finale… EPIC.

There were only a few things I disliked. First of all, I’m not sure if all editions are like this, but mine had a ton of spelling/grammatical errors. Again, maybe it’s just my iBook, but if it’s not then Entangled Teen definitely needs to play closer attention when publishing. I know, I know, it has nothing to do with the author or the story, but I seriously get annoyed when seeing stuff like that in a published best-selling book series. Katy also kind of started to annoy me near the end. After the huge fight with the Arum and finding out she’s now somehow linked to Daemon, she is so whiny. She seriously can’t seem to wrap her head around how he could like her, like her. I completely understand he treated her like crap for the better half of the book, but come on girl. I just want to shake her and say “you’re funny, caring, adorably nerdy, sassy when you want to be, and you are completely capable of holding your own against him. Not to mention, you kicked serious Arum butt in the last fight!” The fact that she doesn’t think she’s good enough for Daemon or something is seriously annoying. She should either tell him she likes him, or that she doesn’t. Fighting her feelings and trying to justify why she “shouldn’t” like him makes her look weak, when she’s spent the entire book proving that’s exactly what she isn’t.

Overall, an awesome introduction to a series I’m sure just gets better. (Actually, I already know it gets better, stay tuned for my review on Onyx). The characters rock, the plot is awesome, and the author is a fan-effing-tastic writer. *Round of applause*.

Until next time,

xx
Jacqueline